DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of application for patent in the United States.
3. Claim(s) 1-4, 6, 8-15 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being anticipated by Fujishima et al. (USPN 5,948,355).
Regarding claims 1-3, Fujishima et al. discloses (figures 6-7; col. 8, lines 15-48) an apparatus capable of producing purified hydrogen peroxide gas (PHPG) from humid ambient air comprising: an interior space (space within housing 20); air inlet openings (22) capable of directing a stream of humid ambient air into the interior space; outlet openings (34) capable of discharging the PHPG formed by the apparatus into a surrounding environment, wherein the apparatus defines an air flow pathway between the inlet (22) and outlet (34) openings (see figures 6-7); an ultraviolet light source (2, 26 - ultraviolet lights emit light over multiple wavelength ranges), a metal oxide catalyst substrate structure (filter 24 coated with a composite catalyst of titanium dioxide and platinum), and an air distribution mechanism (fan or blower - col. 8, lines 10-14, 29-60), wherein the catalyst substrate structure is air- permeable (substrate is an air filter) and situated perpendicular to the direction of air flow through the apparatus (see figures 3-4, 6-7, filter perpendicular to air flow). The apparatus of Fujishima et al. discloses all of the claimed structural features and is capable of producing purified hydrogen peroxide gas when humid ambient air is passed into the apparatus by exposing the composite catalyst to the ultraviolet light in the presence of humid air for a predetermined time period.
Regarding claims 4, 6, and 15, Fujishima et al. discloses that housing (20) is a vented outer cover (see figure 6) that defines the interior space where the UV light (2, 26) and catalyst substrate structure (filter 24) is located within the outer covering.
Regarding claims 8-9, Fujishima et al. discloses that the vented outer covering (housing 20) includes a plurality of inlet vents (20) and a plurality of outlet vents (34) (see figure 6).
Regarding claim 10, Fujishima et al. discloses a fan (i.e. fan 40) or blower for introducing air to the filter (see col. 8, line 10-14 and 29-60).
Regarding claims 11-12, Fujishima et al. discloses that the catalyst is a composite catalyst comprising titanium dioxide and platinum (see col. 6, line 26 to col. 7, line 25).
Regarding claim 13, the apparatus of Fujishima et al. discloses all of the claimed structural features and is capable of producing purified hydrogen peroxide gas that is substantially free of water, ozone, plasma species, and organic species, when humid ambient air is passed into the apparatus by exposing the composite catalyst to the ultraviolet light in the presence of humid air for a predetermined time period.
Regarding claim 14, Fujishima et al. discloses that the catalyst may be supported on a catalyst carrier that is attached to an air filter (see col. 7, lines 25-54).
4. Claim(s) 1, 4-5, and 16-20 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being anticipated by KR 200296828 Y1 (English translation).
Regarding claims 1, KR 200296828 Y1 discloses an apparatus (1) (see English translation; figure 1) capable of producing purified hydrogen peroxide gas (PHPG) from humid ambient air comprising: an interior space (space in housing 12); one or more inlet openings (inlet opening in side of housing 10 - see arrows of figure 1) capable of directing a stream of humid ambient air into the interior space; one or more outlet openings (outlet opening in side of housing 10 - see outlet arrow of figure 1) capable of discharging the PHPG formed by the apparatus into a surrounding environment, wherein the apparatus (1) defines an air flow pathway between the inlet openings and the outlet openings through at least a portion of the interior space (as indicated by the arrows shown in figure 1); a catalyst substrate (photocatalyst filter 9) structure located in a portion of the air flow pathway, wherein the catalyst substrate structure comprises at least one photocatalyst (titanium dioxide – see translation); and a UV light source (5) for irradiating and activating at least a portion of the photocatalyst to provide an activated photocatalyst for a stream of humid ambient air transversing the air flow pathway to produce the PHPG, wherein said outlet openings are configured to direct the PHPG out of said interior space and into the surrounding environment when the apparatus is in operation (see figure 1).
Regarding claims 4-5, KR 200296828 Y1 discloses that the apparatus (1) further includes a vented outer covering coated with a photocatalyst (photocatalyst filter 10) (see English translation; figure 1).
Regarding claim 16, KR 200296828 Y1 discloses an apparatus (1) capable of producing purified hydrogen peroxide gas (PHPG) from humid ambient air, the apparatus comprising: at least one inlet partition (filter 8) and a least one outlet partition (photocatalyst filter 10) that define an interior space (see figure 1), wherein the at least one inlet partition comprises a plurality of inlet passages (porous filter) for permitting fluid flow communication between an exterior environment and the interior space, wherein the inlet passages are configured to admit the humid ambient air into the interior space, wherein the at least one outlet partition (photocatalyst filter 8) comprises a plurality of outlet passages for permitting fluid flow communication between the interior space and the exterior environment, wherein the outlet passages are configured to discharge at least a portion of the PHPG produced by the apparatus into the exterior environment; and a UV light source (5) located within the interior space (see figure 1), wherein at least one surface of the at least one inlet partition and/or at least one surface of the at least one outlet partition comprises a photocatalyst loaded thereon (outlet partition 10 is a photocatalyst coated filter), and wherein the UV light source (5) is configured to irradiate UV light onto the photocatalyst to provide an activated photocatalyst for contacting the humid ambient air transversing the plurality of inlet passages from the exterior environment into the interior space when the apparatus is in operation (See English translation; figure 1).
Regarding claim 17, KR 200296828 Y1 discloses that the partition (filter 9) comprises a plastic material which is a polymer (see English translation).
Regarding claim 18, the apparatus of KR 200296828 Y1 discloses all of the claimed structural features and is capable of producing purified hydrogen peroxide gas that is substantially free of water, ozone, plasma species, and organic species, when humid ambient air is passed into the apparatus by exposing the composite catalyst to the ultraviolet light in the presence of humid air for a predetermined time period.
Regarding claim 19, KR 200296828 Y1 discloses that the photocatalyst comprises titanium dioxide (see English translation).
Regarding claim 20, KR 200296828 Y1 discloses that the inlet partition (filter 8) and the outlet partition (photocatalyst filter 10) are oriented substantially perpendicular to the direction of air flow through the interior space of the apparatus (see figure 1; see English translation).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
6. Claim 7 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fujishima et al. as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Nagy (USPN 3,403,252).
Fujishima et al. is set forth above with regards to claim 4 and discloses a vented covering (housing 20) but does not appear to disclose the material used for the vented covering. Therefore, it would have been necessary and thus obvious to look to the prior art for conventional materials used for the vented covering. Nagy provides this conventional teaching showing that it is known in the art to use plastic as the material for the vented covering (housing) (see col. 8, lines 33-37). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the vented covering (housing 20) from plastic as taught by Nagy, motivated by the expectation of successfully practicing the invention of Fujishima et al.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN E CONLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-8414. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F, 8:30am-4pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mike Marcheschi can be reached on 571-272-1374. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/SEAN E CONLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
Prosecution Insights